Insider Selling: Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Sells $1,027,355.04 in Stock

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) CEO Gary Smith sold 2,952 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.02, for a total transaction of $1,027,355.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 225,455 shares in the company, valued at $78,462,849.10. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ciena Stock Up 5.6%

Shares of NYSE CIEN opened at $361.11 on Thursday. Ciena Corporation has a 52-week low of $159.56 and a 52-week high of $637.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a current ratio of 3.80. The stock has a market cap of $51.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.60, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $372.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $439.35.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Ciena had a net margin of 10.87% and a return on equity of 25.33%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Ciena Corporation will post 6.00 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CIEN. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Ciena in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Ciena in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Barclays increased their target price on Ciena from $475.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $440.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.11.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CIEN. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Ciena in the second quarter worth $404,948,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Ciena by 7.0% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 413,332 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $160,468,000 after purchasing an additional 26,900 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Ciena by 4.1% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 332,271 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $116,900,000 after purchasing an additional 12,986 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Ciena by 10.7% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 321,825 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $124,942,000 after purchasing an additional 31,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Ciena by 24.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 266,384 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $93,719,000 after purchasing an additional 52,382 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a networking technology company that provides hardware, software, and services for communications networks. Its solutions help telecommunications carriers, cloud providers, enterprises, government organizations, and research institutions build, manage, and automate high-capacity networks.

The company’s portfolio includes optical networking systems, routing and switching platforms, network automation software, and network management tools. Ciena also offers consulting, implementation, maintenance, and professional services designed to support network planning, deployment, optimization, and ongoing operations.